Points Database

Search for Acupuncture Points

I have compiled a database of points to which I add my own research notes drawn from lectures, experience, books and contemplation. It is intended as a resource for myself and other researchers and as the basis for my Acupoint Revision Tool, not as a guide to treatment which should always be carried out under the guidance of a professional. Bodywork is fundamentally a tactile and empathic art making textual/verbal descriptions at best approximations, mnemonics or metaphors to be understood fully with demonstration and experience.

If Chinese characters are not displaying I recommend installing the font HanaMinA.ttf which contains traditional characters.

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Primary Channels

These are the main meridians which can be used in any practice. The following collaterals all branch from these at some point.

I have not included separate Sinew meridian pathways as they effectively follow their associated Primary except in wider bands with a few branches and no real points except the Jing Well points where they connect to the Primary. They are generally treated with movement assessment and palpation for Ah Shi painful points.

Luo Channels

The Luo are conduits for Blood and generally implicated in emotional and psychosomatic conditions or traumatic injury. They do not technically have points, except the first one where it separates from the primary channel and the Yuan Source point on its Yin/Yang pair. Those are given here first and last. The rest are to help trace the trajectory where points appear in the form of colour changes, bruises and sensitivity.

The sequence of the Luo of the 12 main channels is cyclical and able to transmit interiorly or exteriorly to its neighbouring division or to the Yuan Source point of it's Yin/Yang pair. The first two columns should therefore be considered a circle with movement possible vertically and horizontally with the most exterior at the top and left. The extraordinary and great Luo are employed when the main 12 overflow.

Diverent Channels

Tantalisingly little is writen about these meridians in the classics except their pathways. From their origins at the He Sea points or major joints and the similarity of their pathways to the lymph nodes it has been suggested they are associated with autoimmunity and degenerative inflammatory disorders.

The theory is that once the Sinews and Luo have failed to contain a pathogen the Divergents represent a last line of defence before the Zangfu organs are attacked directly. The Divergents hold it latent using our body's resources to maintain the pathogen in latency. Their sequence is therefore in order of the resources used to maintain this latency, written in parentheses and descending from left to right, then top to bottom. Diagnosis may be made by degeneration along the trajectory, inflammation of the associated organs or depletion of the corresponding substance. The aim of treatment is often maintenance of latency by nourishing the substances being depleted although ejection protocols exist for patients who are strong enough to attempt them.

These connect the deepest Yuan Source level and most superficial Wei Defensive level so additional points that connect to these can also be added to direct the treatment such as Yuan Source, front or back Shu, front Mu, He sea, Hui meeting, Ren, Du, Kidney, San Jiao, Jing Well, Xi cleft and ah shi painful points.

Extraordinary Channels

These are the deepest meridians closely related to spiritual transformative (alchemical) practices. At one time they were considered inaccessible to treatment and perhaps still best reserved helping people to change at their core. Success is often slow and dependent on the person's readiness to change as treatment can only suggest a path, it cannot make someone walk it.

These include common opening and confluent points, not technically part of the trajectory but closely associated with them. Extra points are not normally needed but ones that connect to the Yuan Source level such as Yuan Source, front or back Shu, front Mu, He sea, Hui meeting, Ren, Du, Kidney or San Jiao points, can be added if necessary to direct the treatment.

Basic information on location, needle depth, classical actions and indications is taken from Deadman (2001) A Manual of Acupuncture which was the bible of acupoints at my college and all BAcC accredited courses that I'm aware of. Additional anatomical information is researched by reference to Gray's Anatomy (38th Ed., 1995). Other sources should be quoted in the text.

With reference to different traditions: the descriptions of acupoints, trigger points, marma and other "vital spots" vary both within and between systems. Few use the anatomical precision of TCM and many, including older acupuncture texts, are vague or inferred from a spot on a picture. As such my decision to include information about another trdition under any specific point is often my own approximation based on sources I try to reference.